Month-long Digital Billboard Campaign Features Last Seen and
Age Progression Images of Missing Children from Southern
California
Today the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children®
(NCMEC) and Clear Channel Outdoor Americas – Los Angeles (CCOA)
(NYSE: CCO), a subsidiary of iHeartMedia Inc., launched a new
month-long digital billboard campaign across the Los Angeles, CA
region timed with National Missing Children’s Day, calling
attention to the ongoing searches for local missing children. The
digital out-of-home (DOOH) campaign underscores the plight of
missing children everywhere and this local effort features four
missing children from Southern California.
This Smart News Release features multimedia.
View the full release here:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170525005902/en/
Lisa Zaharias, missing since 1987, now
has a digital billboard to help bring her home. (Photo: Business
Wire)
Beginning May 25, CCOA will broadcast last seen, and age
progression, images of Alexander Riffenburg from Palmdale, CA;
Crystal Tymich from Los Angeles, CA; and Christopher and Lisa Mae
Zaharias from Santa Ana, CA; on the company’s digital billboards
throughout Los Angeles and Orange County. The donated billboards
direct the public to call 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) with any
information concerning the disappearance or current whereabouts of
these local children.
This latest initiative builds on NCMEC and CCOA’s 2015 national
‘Summer of Hope’ campaign, which reminded parents never to wait 24
hours to report a missing child. The country is in the midst of a
persistent missing and exploited children crisis nationwide.
According to the FBI, in 2016 there were 465,676 National
Crime Information Center (NCIC) entries for missing children.
Similarly, in 2015, the total number of missing children entries
into NCIC was 460,699. In the state of California, there were
1,437 children missing who were intaked by NCMEC in 2016.
Across Los Angeles and Orange County, CCOA’s donation of its
digital inventory enables NCMEC to reach millions of people across
Southern California where images will be displayed for a month.
Locations of the billboards which feature the four missing
children’s photos include high-traffic areas such as the Santa
Monica and San Diego Freeways.
“Hundreds of thousands of children go missing every year and
many are never heard from again. There are many causes of
disappearance, but the goal is always to bring our kids back.
Today, we draw special attention to this tragic issue. I ask our
communities to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity or
information that could help bring a child back home,” said Los
Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis. “At the County level, we
are working hard to protect victims of trafficking, and provide
them and their families with the services and assistance they
desperately need during the scariest time in their lives. Whether
someone is abducted, trafficked, or lost, the County and our
departments are ready to work with families and the community.”
“We are so grateful for the ongoing support of the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children and of Clear Channel
Outdoor Americas as we continue our investigations to bring our
children home safely,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim
McDonnell. “Every day in the line of duty we see at first-hand what
a crucial issue this is and hope to impress upon local communities
the importance of finding our missing kids. Our hope is that this
campaign will help bring to light information we need for our
on-going cases and ease the anguish that families of missing
children are forced to endure."
“I want to thank the combined efforts of the National Center for
Missing & Exploited Children and Clear Channel Outdoor Americas
for this overwhelming kindness and for raising awareness about the
cause of missing children and my beloved lost children, Lisa Mae
and Christopher,” said Louis Zaharias. “As a parent searching for
my children for the last 30 years, it's billboard campaigns like
these that can revitalize hope for me and for all of the other
parents out there experiencing the anguish of losing their
child.”
“Our latest partnership with the National Center for Missing
& Exploited children emphasizes our commitment to helping bring
our children home safely to their families not just here in
California but across the country,” said Layne Lawson, Vice
President of Public Affairs, Clear Channel Outdoor – Southern
California Division. “Our digital billboard campaigns have been
successful in helping missing children connect with a lifeline to
safety and we are grateful especially for Mr. Zaharias, Christopher
and Lisa Mae’s father, for his continued courageous effort in
calling attention to this ongoing crisis nationwide through his own
personal journey and we thank everyone involved in this local
campaign for their continued support.”
According to NCMEC, photos are one of the most vital tools for
law enforcement when searching for a missing child, and have the
power to produce leads that can help law enforcement give families
answers and help safely recover children. The new billboard
campaign enables NCMEC to reach a broad audience across Los Angeles
by distributing photos of the missing children in targeted areas
that can aid local law enforcement with a search.
“At the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children we
know that photos are the single most important tool to find a
missing child. We applaud Clear Channel Outdoor for showcasing
missing children on their digital billboards,” said Robert Lowery,
Vice President, Missing Children’s Division. “We could not do this
important work without help and strongly urge anyone who thinks
they recognize a child to not hesitate, and call NCMEC.”
For regional missing children alerts
http://www.missingkids.com/RSS
About the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children
Since 1984, the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children® has served as the leading private, nonprofit organization
helping to find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation
and prevent future victimization. As part of its work as the
clearinghouse and resource center on issues relating to missing and
exploited children, NCMEC operates a hotline,
1-800-THE-LOST® (1-800-843-5678), and has assisted in the
recovery of more than 232,000 missing children. NCMEC also operates
the CyberTipline®, a mechanism for reporting suspected child sexual
exploitation, which has received more than 15 million reports since
it was created in 1998. To learn more about NCMEC, visit
www.missingkids.org or see NCMEC on Twitter and
Facebook.
About Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.
Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc., (NYSE: CCO) is one of the
world’s largest outdoor advertising companies, with over 590,000
displays in 35 countries across five continents, including 43 of
the 50 largest markets in the United States. Clear Channel Outdoor
Holdings offers many types of displays across its global platform
to meet the advertising needs of its customers. This includes a
growing digital platform that now offers more than 1,100 digital
billboards across 27 markets in the United States. Clear Channel
Outdoor Holdings’ International segment operates in 19 countries
across Asia and Europe in a wide variety of formats. More
information is available
at www.clearchanneloutdoor.com and www.clearchannelinternational.com.
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View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170525005902/en/
NCMEC
Media703-837-6111media@ncmec.orgorClear
Channel OutdoorJason D.
King212-812-0064jasondking@clearchannel.com
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